A Pastry of Sorts
by emilyisahufflepuff
Summary: Harry and Ginny attempt to bake a cake. How fun.


A/N: I wrote this only to be able to read one of my friend's stories. She said that if I published a story on this website, she would allow me to read her's. This is my very first story. Also, I doubt anything will be accurate. And, it's probably really, REALLY poorly written, and I'll take criticism. So...yeah. Thank you.

"Okay, if we're going to do this, let's do it the muggle way."

"Fine," Ginny sighed. "But if this turns out a mess, I'm blaming it on you."

Harry smiled lovingly at his wife, "You know I'm not that kind of a guy."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Obviously not."

Harry pulled out a recipe, tucked in his left breast pocket. It was a recipe, for a cake. He'd received it from Hermione, who'd received this family recipe from her parents, as a gift for brushing her teeth, two times a day, every day, for a year.

"Harry! Ginny! Hello!" Hermione had greeted, "Here is the recipe you asked for. If you bake it correctly, the cake will come out tasting quite nice. Of course, Ron had to try making it on his own, but he got all the ingredients mixed up, and it came out a total mess. So, hopefully that won't happen to you."

"Um, Hermione?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Hugh is—"

Hermione spun around, "Oh dear. You know what; I'll talk to you two later. I'm just going to deal with Hugh first."

Harry and Ginny caught the last glimpse of Hermione's son stuffing his face with the cake his mother baked, before watching Hermione stomp over there to scold him. Harry and Ginny said their farewells, and closed the door behind them, returning to their home.

"So, to bake this cake, we need: one cup of white sugar, a half cup of butter, two eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla, one and a half cups of flour, one and three quarters teaspoons of baking powder and a half cup of milk. Ginny, do we have all of the ingredients?"

"Yes." She brought out each of the ingredients, still sealed in their perfect, untouched states.

"And the bowls and pans?"

"All here." She showed Harry the elaborate set of bowls and pans.

"And the oven?"

"Right here and ready to go."

"Great, we're all set. Now let's get cooking!"

"So, the first step," Ginny read, "'Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour a nine by nine inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.' Okay, well we don't have whatever a muffin pan is. But we do have a pan. I suppose we use that." She pulled out a pan from her collection. "And preheat the oven to 175 degrees. I can preheat an oven."

"And now, we have to grease and flour it. How specific these muggles are. What do we grease it with? Gasoline?"

"I guess so; what else can we use?"

"But won't it make the cake taste really bad?"

"I mean, maybe the muggles have their own 'magic' to make the oil and the batter taste good." Ginny laughed at her little joke. "But let's just not grease it. Maybe it'll turn out better that way."

"Perhaps. Now, 'In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.'" Harry read.

Ginny pulled out a bowl, and dumped the bag of sugar and the stick of butter into the bowl. "Harry, the bowl is overflowing with sugar. Are we supposed to put this much sugar into the bowl?"

"Well, I suppose so. Again with this muggle-specificity: what exactly is a cup of sugar? And a half cup of butter?"

"We could ask Hermione."

"And bother her while she's dealing with Hugh? Maybe we can talk to her later."

"Alright. Well now, we have to beat in the eggs, one at a time." Ginny dropped one egg in the bowl, the shell cracking into the sugar and butter mixture, and mixed it with a large spoon, and dropped the other into the bowl as well, performing the same actions she'd done to the previous egg. "Do you think this looks okay, Harry?"

"Perfect. Now we stir in the milk." He lifted the gallon of milk, already opened, and poured the milk into the mixture, making sure every last drop in the carton got into the batter.

"…Until batter is smooth," Ginny read. "Harry, this batter doesn't look very smooth."

"I'm sure it will turn out fine. Now, let's pour the batter into the pan, and hope for the best." Grabbing onto the bowl, Harry lifted it, and tilted the bowl towards the pan. The batter plopped into the container, crunching as it hit the bottom. Ginny grabbed the pan when no batter remained in the bowl, and stuck it in the oven.

"And we're done!" Ginny exclaimed. Harry and Ginny high-fived one other, proud of their accomplishment. They contacted Ron and Hermione, telling them that they finished baking the cake, and that the couple could come over in fifty minutes, when the cake was done.

Ginny smelled a foul odor, coming from the kitchen. She opened the oven, and saw that their precious cake was burnt! It was in no condition to be consumed by a human being. But no matter. She brought out a knife, and cut off the burnt edges. Hermione and Ron were to be coming any minute now. This cake seemed to look far more different than Hermione's cake. But who baked it correctly, and more deliciously? Probably Hermione, as well, but maybe only by a hair, since she was muggle raised, and familiar with this. Ginny put the irregularly-shaped cake on a plate. It was ready to be served.

"Ginny! Harry! We're here!" Hermione opened the door for her and her husband, letting themselves in. "How's your cake coming along?"

Harry held up a plate, covered with a flowery cloth. He lifted the napkin, and revealed – a cake?

"Wow. That's – horrific," Ron commented.

"Is it really?" Harry asked, Ginny by his side.

"What he means is that it could use some improvement, presentation wise. But I bet it tastes great on the inside," Hermione said, glaring at Ron.

"Great! Well, now, you two can join us, in taking the first bite of our cake!" Ginny celebrated.

The hosts guided the guests to their tables. They handed each a plate, a napkin, and a fork. "Let the feasting begin!" Harry rejoiced. He sliced some oddly shaped pieces for his guests, his wife, and him.

The four friends simultaneously lifted their forks. They simultaneously stuck the fork into the cake, and brought it to their mouths. They simultaneously bit the cake off of their forks. They simultaneously spit it out, and threw their forks down on the table.

"Oh my Rowling!" They screamed.

"I am so, so sorry you all had to experience such a traumatic event!" Ginny exclaimed. "I had no idea it was so bad."

"No, no. It's okay. It's not bad, just different. I like the texture. Crunchy," Hermione replied.

"Well, I for one, think that it's even worse than my attempt."

"Oh, go away Ron," Ginny retorted.

"Well. I guess we're never baking a cake again," Harry said.

"Amen to that," Ron agreed.

And so, the two couples, and the four friends continued to live their peaceful lives, learning, and experiencing new things throughout each day. They learned that Harry and Ginny were most likely the worst bakers to be ever known to man, and to never eat any of their cakes.


End file.
